Modern Family star Ariel Winter is completely unrecognizable in her latest role—and it’s a good thing, too.
The 27-year-old took on her most important job yet when she partnered with nonprofit organization SOSA, or Safe from Online Sex Abuse, going undercover as a 12-year-old girl in an Oklahoma City sting operation that was recorded for a true crime docuseries.
Winter donned a dirty blonde wig to become the perfect decoy to aid crime stoppers in catching a high-risk predator, donning various accessories to help play up her youthful appearance. In one screenshot from the documentary, published by the Daily Mail, it was decorated with a flimsy metallic clip. In another, she carefully arranged a purple headband with a fluffy bow over the wig’s blunt bangs.
In most snapshots, she went sans makeup, though a few frames found her in a bright pink eyeshadow as she took selfies.
The actress told the publication that it was “cathartic” to partner up with SOSA, admitting, “Growing up in the entertainment industry, I’ve been the girl we are trying to save.”
“It’s vital to me to help protect young women from the experiences I endured in my own life,” she added, though it’s been no easy feat.
Predators do everything they can to conceal their identities, making it difficult to track many of them down—even though, according to Winter, the number of men looking for young girls online is in the “hundreds of thousands.”
“These men also look like normal, nice guys,” she stressed. “They don’t look like predators. They look like the guy next-door and they’re usually married and have children. The men seem nice because they have pets and they show you pictures of their dogs. They talk about their everyday life and they seem like sweet men. But the truth is they want to spend time with a 12-year-old girl…”
Winter said she’ll contribute to SOSA for “as long as [she] can” to keep bringing those men to justice.
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